Piramal Foundation is a social development and CSR arm of Piramal Group.

GUWAHATI: Piramal Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Assam to improve education indicators identified by NITI Aayog, across 5 Aspirational Districts of Assam.

As per the MoU, Piramal Foundation will support in leadership and professional development of individuals within the Education Department, through multiple channels of intervention, with a focus on two indicators –Learning Outcomes and Transition Rate.

Major intervention activities include Coach and Facilitator Development, Planning and Governance Support, School Process Improvement, Demonstration School and Community Engagement.

Manmohan Singh, Director, Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership said, “We are delighted to partner with the Government of Assam to build the leadership capacity of education functionaries and look forward to strengthening the existing government system.”

Commenting on the initiative, Shri Preetom Saikia, Commissioner and Secretary Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said, “The focus in the coming year would be on improving school performance across Districts. We are pleased to partner with Piramal Foundation to make education interventions more robust and concrete”.

The signing of the MOU was followed up with a meeting with the Alok Kumar, Chief Secretary, Government of Assam, to provide an update on the progress and seek support in accelerating the movement on indicators set by NITI Ayog.

In 2018, through joint initiatives led by District Collectors and the Education Department with the support of Piramal Foundation, the districts of Baksa, Barpeta, Dhubri, Darrang and Goalpara have shown improvement in several indicators including Transition Rate of Baksa District from Elementary to Upper Primary level by 27 percent, and in Goalpara district from Elementary to Upper Primary level by 6 per cent, with Goalpara achieving a Transition Rate of 98.6 percent this year.

Through the ‘Amar Vidyalay Amar Abhimaan Campaign’, driven by state government and Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership, enrolment in Dhubri has gone up by 18%, stemming the three year downward trend in enrolment. Gunotsav 2018-19 (a quality enhancement initiative of the State for bringing about improvement in learning levels of students at Elementary level) also shows an improvement in grading of schools in these Districts.